Images from the Everist Gallery NMM 10474.  Electric upright bass guitar by Gibson, Inc., Kalamazoo, ca. 1938. Prototype. No serial number. The first of two built by Gibson before World War II. Board of Trustees, 2003.           In the 1930s, Gibson, Inc. realized that the unexpected success of the Electro String Instrument Company’s "frying pan"—an aluminum electric Hawaiian guitar—could not be ignored. Gibson introduced a competing electric Hawaiian guitar with a metal body in 1935, though it soon changed the body to a wooden one with sunburst finish. In 1936, Gibson introduced the matching ES-150 electric Spanish guitar and the EM-150 electric mandolin. It even made a few dozen electric plectrum and tenor banjos. In that time of experimentation, Gibson also assembled two electric basses, but these instruments never made it into mass production. The NMM’s prototype was probably the first electric bass made by Gibson. The hollow-bodied instrument has no sound holes, only an early blade pickup with hexagonal housing, often called the “Charlie Christian” pickup after the jazz artist who was an early adopter of Gibson’s ES-150 electric arch-top guitar. Although the instrument appears surprisingly modern for its age, it has a long string length suited to upright rather than seated playing, and it is fitted with an extendable endpin (short scaling and guitar-style playing were hallmarks of Fender’s revolutionary Precision Bass, the first commercially successful electric bass, introduced in 1951). It also has a unique, pedal-operated, felt string mute that presumably would dampen the strings enough to imitate the sound of an acoustic bass. The instrument features a beautifully figured maple body with shaded sunburst lacquer and a mando-bass-type neck with flush frets. Gibson sold another prototype electric bass in 1940 to the mother of Mrs. Theodore E. Snow, who as a teenager performed with her family's musical ensemble, the Hawaiian-themed Tropical Islanders. This later bass, now at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, has a larger guitar-shaped body and no string mute. Gibson did not bring any electric basses to the mass market until the violin-shaped Gibson Electric Bass (EB-1) in 1953. Exterior and Interior Views of Bass Pickup and Spring According to Julius Bellson, Gibson historian, the NMM's bass was first owned by Wally Kamin, who, with his friend and future brother-in-law, Les Paul, encouraged Gibson to explore the production of electric basses. As Bellson wrote to Mrs. Snow, the owner of the other electric bass, "In his public appearances Les Paul’s brother-in-law played a string bass and at their suggestion Gibson experimented by putting together an Electric Bass Guitar. This was during the years of 1938-1940. We were not sure of the exact year . . . .  The electric Bass Guitars were quite heavy and we were not satisfied with the available amplifiers of the day—which were great with guitars but did not reproduce the low tones of the Bass satisfactorily—Pearl Harbor came along and all production of Gibson's products was stopped and we got into war work." Lit.:  George Gruhn, "Gibson Upright Electric Bass," Vintage Guitar Classics (June 1997), pp. 12-16. Willie G. Moseley, "Likely the First! 1938 Gibson Electric Bass," Vintage Guitar Vol. 18, No. 3 (January 2004), p. 32. Arian Sheets, "Early Rumblings for an Electric Bass; NMM Acquires Gibson's Prototype Electric Bass Guitar, ca. 1938," National Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. 32, No. 2 (May 2005), pp. 4-5.   Click arrow to continue Everist Gallery Tour Go to Everist Gallery Tour Index Go to Virtual Tour Index Postcard of this guitar available from Gift Shop Go to Gibson Electric Guitar Checklist National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069 ©National Music Museum, 2005-2007 Most recent update: December 20, 2007 You are the 12,697th visitor to this page since August 11, 2005 The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page